TEEX online cybersecurity courses approved for college credit

COLLEGE STATION - The American Council on Education (ACE) Review Team has recommended college credit for 10 online cybersecurity courses offered by the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX).

“Twenty percent of all eligible TEEX courses are approved for college credit, but these are the first online courses to be evaluated and recommended for college credit,” said Mark Posada, TEEX Manager of Education and Training Initiatives.

Another bonus: the DHS/FEMA-funded cyber-security eLearning courses are offered at no cost.

“The success of this review will expand students’ opportunities to further their college education with training they can complete individually at no cost,” said Rebecca Tate, Training Manager with TEEX’s National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center (NERRTC). “By leveraging the design of the overall program, which includes three separate “user-specific tracks” with three or four courses each, we were able to meet the ACE requirements and make it possible for students to earn college credit.”

The three tracks are each geared for a different audience: general/non-technical computer users, IT professionals, or managers and business professionals. Students who complete all of the online courses for a specific track can now earn 2 hours of college credit.

“These DHS/FEMA-certified web-based cyber-security courses include a substantial amount of information that is valuable to all computer users and can be especially relevant for college students beginning an IT or business program,” Tate added.

TEEX now has a total of 108 courses reviewed and recommended for credit by ACE, Posada said. “ACE recognition shows the quality of our training courses and makes the agency more attractive to potential students,” he added.

More than 1,800 colleges recognize ACE-approved courses, and students can often plug these courses into existing associate’s or bachelor’s degree plans. All courses that are approved by ACE are reviewed every three years by a team of college and university faculty from across the country.